Pull-Apart Monkey Bread from Canned Biscuits for Easy Mornings
Pull-apart monkey bread made with canned buttermilk biscuits, cinnamon sugar, and a brown sugar butter glaze. No kneading or rising is needed, and it bakes in about 30 minutes for an easy morning treat.
Equipment
- 9x5-inch loaf pan
- 6-cup bundt pan
- Gallon-size resealable bag
- Small saucepan
- Kitchen scissors
- Sheet pan
- Fork
Ingredients
For the coating
- 1 can (16.3 oz / 462 g) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits usually 8 large biscuits
- 6 tablespoons (75 g) granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the brown sugar glaze
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) butter melted
- 1/2 cup (100 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 pinch kosher salt keeps the glaze from tasting flat
- Cooking spray or a little soft butter for the pan
Instructions
- Heat the oven and prep the pan. Preheat to 350°F (180°C). Grease your loaf pan or small bundt pan well with cooking spray, getting into every corner and up the sides. Any spot you miss is where the caramel will glue the bread to the pan.
- Make the cinnamon sugar. Put the granulated sugar and cinnamon in a gallon-size resealable bag, seal it, and shake to combine.
- Quarter the biscuits. Open the can, separate the biscuits, and cut each one into 4 pieces with kitchen scissors or a knife. Scissors are faster and don't squash the layers.
- Coat the pieces. Drop the biscuit pieces into the bag, about 8 to 10 at a time, seal it, and shake until they're fully coated. If you dump them all in together, they stick to each other and come out bald in patches.
- Layer them in the pan. Scatter the coated pieces loosely into the pan. Don't press them down. They need some space to puff up, and the glaze needs gaps to run through. If there's cinnamon sugar left in the bag, sprinkle it over the top.
- Make the glaze. Melt the butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Stir in the brown sugar and salt until it's mostly smooth. It'll look slightly grainy, and that's fine, because the sugar finishes melting in the oven.
- Pour and bake. Pour the glaze evenly over the biscuit pieces, aiming for the gaps as well as the tops. Bake for about 28 to 32 minutes, until the top is deep golden brown and the pieces in the center are no longer doughy. Check the middle, not the top. Start checking at 25 minutes. Pull a piece from the middle with a fork, and if it's gummy inside, give it another 4 to 5 minutes. If the top is getting too dark before the middle is cooked, lay a loose sheet of foil over it.
- Rest, then flip. Let the pan sit for 10 minutes. Then put a plate over the top and flip it over in one confident motion. Scrape any caramel left in the pan onto the bread. The 10-minute rest is the window you need to hit. If you flip right away, the caramel is too thin and runs everywhere. If you wait 30 minutes, it hardens and the bread sticks. In that case, put the pan back in a warm oven for a few minutes to loosen it up.
